Legal Information

Privacy Policy

The Michigan Bulletin web site collects anonymous, aggregate data about how the site is used, such as number of visitors, length of visit and most frequently visited pages. This information is used internally by MiBulletin.org to improve the site’s value to our readers. Externally, this information may be used to provide marketing data to potential sponsors / advertisers.

Sponsors and Advertisers may be asked to provide personal data, such as name and e-mail address. Site visitors may be asked for personal data in the event of contests or subscriptions. Personally identifiable information you provide will not be shared with third parties except when necessary to provide the product or service requested.

General Legal Disclaimer

Information and credit in these pages is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing. We strive to acquire permission for the use of copyrighted material and to provide accurate recognition to the creative author of all materials. The web is a dynamic and ever changing medium resulting in "broken links" as well as webmaster "wanna-bes" creating web sites using copyrighted materials without providing proper credit. Furthermore, content / photos often come from outside sources and because they may not provide the information, we may not provide credit that is due. We assume no responsibility for incorrect information. However, updates on the web site pages will be made as soon as practical after we have found that any of the information on these pages has changed or is not accurate. Issues of concern regarding the web site should include your name, telephone number, e-mail address and be provided to:

webstaff @ mibulletin.org
Subject Line: MiBulletin Web site Correction

Letters to the Editor and General Content

The views and opinions expressed in the Michigan Bulletin Newspaper and reproduced here on the web site do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. We welcome letters to the Editor. All letters should be typed, no longer than 150 words, include signature (when mailed), address, e-mail contact (if available) and telephone number or they will not be considered for publication. The Michigan Bulletin / MiBulletin.org reserves the right to edit all letters and photographs. The letters will not be returned. Digital photos are preferred and should be submitted in JPG or TIF format. Mailed photos will not be returned unless a stamped, self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Letters to the Editor should be e-mailed to Editor @ mibulletin.org and sent to:

The Michigan Bulletin
c/o Editor
P.O. Box 24084
Lansing MI 48909

Photographs, Artwork and other images are subject to the following:

1. Include the file name you have given the picture.
2. Include the full name of who took the picture and where and when (so we can credit the photographer).
3. Include the full names of the people in the picture.
4. Include a suggested caption for the picture.
5. You are responsible for any legal releases/ charges from the photographer and people in the picture. The Michigan Bulletin or it's staff may not be held accountable for any legal liabilities or financial obligations.

Copyright

All content and photos on this site are copyrighted by their contributors as indicated or The Michigan Bulletin / MiBulletin.org. For material that is copyrighted by contributors, you will need to contact them regarding use. Advertising Images, coding, content created by us or advertising agencies may not be used unless agreed upon compensation is provided. Article content and article images may be used for educational or non-profit efforts however, a link to the page it appears on and written information regarding it's source must appear on your page or in an attached bibliography / credits page. The author / photographers name should be present together with contact information where available (usually provided on the "credits" page if not on the actual page). You will need to send an e-mail to webstaff @ mibulletin.org with your full name, contact information and a link to your web site where you are using the content. Subject Line: Copyright Request. The maximum time you may use this content is one year unless other arrangements are agreed upon.

Credits - General History of Web site Creation

ASCOT members & MSU /SBC Grant - October 2003 to April 2004
A grant was given to the MSU Telecommunications Department by SBC to provide web training to program participants and the staff of Closing The Digital Gap (www.CTDG.org) and Black Child & the Family Institute (www.BCFI.org). Subjects taught were basic HTML coding and the use of Macromedia Dreamweaver Studio® to develop web pages.
MSU students who were members of the Associated Students for Career Orientation in Telecommunication (ASCOT) were the instructors and free weekly training was provided to small groups in the Magic Johnson Foundation / HP Creation Station Computer Lab at BCFI. An instructional web site was developed using Macromedia Flash® for students to use as a reference source while developing web site elements. To provide real world experience, the goal was the creation of an Online version of The Michigan Bulletin newspaper on a web host server provided by Michigan State University (MSU).
Due to security issues between the BCFI lab and the MSU server, several compromises had to be made in the design of the pages resulting in a web site that was not transportable. Specifically, all the web elements including the Image Map created to provide navigation and the Logo/Banner were hard coded to the MSU web hosting service. When the site was removed from the MSU server, these elements would no longer appear on the pages. Additionally, the navigation was hard coded to link to the MSU server so the links did not work to link to the new pages on the new web host.
Therefore, a redesign of the site was needed. Elements that were developed and are used on this new site are the background image and the Logo/Banner which needed to be resized so that it would allow for printing without cropping the right hand side. While the structure/ layout of the site folders and templates provided a reasonable design for the creation of a single issue of the newspaper, it did not provide a means for archiving past issues. However, this layout did provide inspiration for the creation of the Module structure which is used to produce each independent issue of The Michigan Bulletin. Click Here to see the original page.

Vene Thomas Yates - May to June 2004
While providing tutoring to Haile Peters, developed the following:
1. Page Design that allows article to be printed without cropping the article content or images. Right hand side will be cropped however, this area is basically provided for placement of advertisements in the future. Pages were structured to meet U.S. Government Section 508 compliant standards which allows for accessibility of the web site by specialized software used by the blind and other visitors to the site that have accessibility needs.

2. External CSS page used for formatting text. Original pages used embedded CSS. By using an external style sheet, elements can be changed or added on one page of code that will then effect the appearance of the entire web site. Haile was extensively involved in the creation of this code page.

3. Layout and structure of folder / file system to provide:
a.) Static pages available from every issue
b.) A module structure to provide easy duplication of navigation / creation of each issue currently published twice a month.
c.) Archive system / pages for easy retrieval of past issues.

4. SSI / CGI pages and Templates. Created two templates and five SSI pages to use for easier updates, maintenance, and ongoing creation of bi-monthly issues of the online version of the newspaper. It is recommended that The Michigan Bulletin purchase a retail version of Macromedia Dreamweaver MX® while it is still available because my experience has been that subsequent versions of the Templates created in this software developer's application do not transfer over and need to be recreated. Furthermore, this will allow the Michigan Bulletin to legally use the application to create and sell online advertising services.

5. Modular Design for Newspaper Issues. Created module which uses two of the SSI pages to provide consistent navigation from issue to issue. The template that is used to create the pages for the section must have two lines of code adjusted before being renamed and then applied to the pages for the current issue. Together these elements allow for module wide changes by making adjustments to only these three pages without effecting previous modules.

6. Documentation. Used spread sheet program to develop the logic for the site structure / layout and to document the folder and file names used for the entire site, the main section and the module.

7. Main Section Pages. Created Legal page, Contact page, Archive page for the issues, Archive page for the 411, Sitemap page and Index page. Used javascript to create e-mail addresses and provide some security from spybots. The Legal Page and the Index page are independent from the root coded template that is attached to the other main section pages. This was done to allow for additional coding within the head section of these pages and to prevent any web host server problems from effecting these critical pages.

8. Web Host Service. Created e-mail accounts for use by staff on the new web host and enabled redirect of mail to their personal accounts. Discovered and created FTP access to the service to upload and download pages. Further exploration of the site and enabling procedures will need to be done to provide feedback forms, polls, database use and other services available from the web host site.

Improvements and additions:

9. July 2004 - Module: Add new folder (p10crreview) and page (civilrtsreview.shtml) and link to include page (toc.shtml) for civil rights review articles. Moved advertising link into the include page (footer.shtml) providing site wide change and site wide access to the advertising info.
Core: Added archiveyoungpub.shtml to begin creating list of young publishers with links to all their articles. Began list in Sitemap.shtml of adult authors to provide links to individual adult authors files in new folder, authorlist. Assigned task to complete both author lists to web intern, Haile Peters with instructions to use the table system I created with accessiblity code.

10. July 29, 2004 - Contactus.shtml - added information on advertising prices and distribution info provided by Marcus Jefferson. Added picture of Haile Peters as web intern and link to e-mail at webstaff.

11. Sept 2, 2004 - To consistently get up a timely version of the Michigan Bulletin, discussed with Marcus the advantage of doing an abreviated version of the paper for the online site. Decided to put up at least one front page feature, the 411 section, a young publisher article, and a current event article. Created new TOC.shtml (table of contents) to use in module.(see vol10issue14).

12. Sept. 17, 2004 - Created first ever online ad including pop-up window for Community Voices and Capital Area Health Alliance (see vol10issue15). Developed pricing structure and payment contract for online ads and provided to Marcus for approval. See webadrates.html and webadinfo.txt for details. This also also features a PHOTO GALLERY page of Summerfest Event.

13. Sept 24 - Created ad from scan of business card for Campus Ford using thumbnail link. (see vol10issue16)

14. Sept. 27, 28 - Created ad for Ebony Fashion Fair for printed newspaper and also adjusted for web. Also created ad for Tricia's Fashions. Adjusted size of pop-up window to accomodate larger Ebony Fashion Fair ad. (see vol10issue17)

15. Oct 5 to 8 - Began issue17 and completed with 4 ads listed to serve as sales tool. Oct 11 - set-up new pop-window in issue 07 to serve for pages not included in TOC. Set up folders and files to create a single headline page for missed issues. Archive will provide at least a single headline page for missed issues. Created special TOC to accomodate these files. Goal is to have complete by Oct 22 and to anounce web presence in Nov 1 printed newspaper (vol10issue19).

16. Oct 18th - new intern, Priscilla Johnson, comes on board for vol 10 issue 19. Tasked with formating anniversery issue and developing young publishers links page.

17. Feb 7th, 2005 - Created Ad for Paper to use in promoting MiBulletin web site.